It doesn't matter who we are or where we are - we are all vulnerable to disasters.

We may be getting better at saving lives in recent years, but we have more infrastructure at risk than ever before. Multibillion dollar disasters have become common over the past decade. The Central European flood and Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011, the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, Hurricane Kartrina in 2005, the Los Angeles earthquake in 2004, the Yangtze floods in 1998 and the Kobe earthquake in 1995 have been recorded as some of the costliest.

Urban spaces and population densities are growing faster than protection measures can be devised. We are very likely to see the normalization of trillion-dollar losses sooner than anticipated.

But is it inevitable that we should experience death and damage from earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, floods, drought, landslides or other natural hazards in the 21st century?

In spite of the millions spent on disaster response and relief each year, not much public mind space is given to thinking about how and why disasters really happen. There is even less reflection on why we continue to manufacture new risks which brew new disasters - some of which our current disaster management capacities may be completely unprepared for.

How do we sustain conversations about disasters long after relief and shelter have reached the affected communities? How can we make conversations about disaster risk a source of habitual inquiry and reflection?

The disaster diary project was born of an observation that we simply do not have enough (and quality) public conversations about processes that can lead to the manufacture of disaster risk.

The diary provides an online space to share ideas, commentaries, experiences and perspectives on how we think about disaster risk, talk about it, and work to reduce it.